Housing Matters

You may be wondering about the tie-in between short-term vacation rentals and affordable/workforce housing. In a four season vacation destination like the Mt. Washington Valley, the decisions made by property owners with space to rent could have a major impact on affordable housing. For example, do home owers rent the new accessory dwelling unit they just built to someone in the local workforce for a reasonable monthly rent...or do they gamble on making a month's rent in one week, by renting it to vacationers? Driven, in part, by pressure from the lodging industry, New Hampshire's legislature is taking another look at taxing AirBnB rentals. Here is a link to a recent article in NH Business Magazine on the subject: Airbnb Tax

What do you think? Tax or no tax... and should some measures be taken to help preserve rental units for the affordable housing market? Is so, what?